Power-connection for railway-trains



(No Model.)

0. J. VAN DEPOELE.

POWER GONNEGTION FOR RAILWAY TRAINS; No. 350,221.

Patented 001;. 5,1886;

n PETERS. PholvL'rlhognphur, Wahinglm'. me

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES J. VAN DEPOELE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

POWER-CONNECTION FOR RAI LWAY- TRAI NS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 350,221, datedOctober 5, 1886.

Application filed April '28. 1886. Serial No. 200,472.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that L CHARLES J. VAN DE- POELE, a citizen of'the United States, residing at Chicago, in the countyof Cook, Stateoflllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Power-Connections for Electric- Railway Trains, of which the following is a description. 7

My invention relates to improvements in electric railways; and it consists, chiefly, in so connecting all the wheels of all or a considerable portion of the cars composing the train that the power necessary to propel said cars may be applied from any one point and conveyed by a series of positive connections to all the wheels so connected, whereby I am enabled to gain the desired amount of traction, and so insure the movement of the wheels and cars along the track without being compelled to pro vide an enormously heavy motor car or locomotive having sufficient tractive power in itself to draw the entire train afterit. The advantages of such an arrangement are great, for by dispensing with the weight of the locomotive the strength of bridges and such other structures forming part of the railway need not be any greater than is sufficient to safely carry a train of cars of a weight suited to the requirements of the traffic, whatever that may be, and it will be found particularly suited to suburban street-railways, where two or more cars are used and the grades are frequently more difficult than those of an ordinary steamrailway.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of the runninggear of two cars connected by a flexible power-transmittin g device consisting of an endless cable. Fig. 2 is an end view thereof, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of the connections.

Similar letters denote like parts throughout.

A represents the track, upon which are two cars, represented by two pairs of wheels, B and G, and the frames B and G. A motor, H, is mounted upon one of the cars, and each one of the axles E of the supporting-wheels, or a sufficient number of them, is provided with a grooved pulley, R, secured thereto. Under each car is permanently situated an endless steel cable, Q, which is supported at each end (No model.)

of the car in such a manner as to be always in a condition of tension, and is then passed around the grooved pulleys R on the axles of the supporting-wheels, and on the motor-car, also around the driving-pulley of the motor.

It will be readily understood that with this construction the power of the motor applied directly to the cable or rope will be transmitted to the wheels of eachcar, or such of them as are connected thereto, and by suitable devices from one car to another throughout the train. The connections between the powertransmitting devices of each car are so arranged as to allow the cars freedom of movement between all the cars of the train, as will be understood from their construct-ion, hereinafter explained.

At each end of each car, mounted upon vertical pins S so as to be capable of vertical motion thereon, is an iron plate or frame, T, in the outer end of which is formed or secured a hollow hearing, within which is mounted a pulley, q, formed with a square hole through its center. On the lower ends of the pins S are coiled springs 75, supporting the frames T. A lever, U, is suitably pivoted to the car-frame and connected to each of the pulley-frames T, by means whereof, in making up a train, one or both of the said frames can be either raised or lowered, so as to pass above and below each other, in which position (shown in Fig. 3) a square pin, 1', is passed through the central aperture of both pulleys, connecting them,so that the rotary movement of one will be conveyed to the other, and thence by the rope Q to the Wheels, and so on throughout. After the pulleys have been coupled, as just described, the weight thereof will be distributed between the two sets of springs 23, and the connected pulleyframes be supported without any great or uneven strain on either one. The supportingwheels B 0 being all connected by the endless cables Q under the cars, and the cable of each car being connected to the next, when power is applied to any one of the cables or ropes as, for instance, by the said cable passing around the driving-pulley of the motor Hall of the wheels will be positively driven at the same time and to the same extent, and therefore other connection will not be required,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. V

VICTOR VIZET, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

STIRRING AND BEA TING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 350,222, dated October 1886,

Application filed October 26, 1885. Serial No. 130,921. (Nomodch) in one direction.

The invention relates to a machine comprising an upright stirrer or beater shaft having upon it a bevel-pinion and a transverse shaft having reverse] y-set bevel-gear sectors, which, by engaging alternately with opposite sides of the pinion, transmit to said stirrer or beater shaft rotary motion alternately in opposite directions. I

The invention consists in, novel combinations of parts and details of construction, which are hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a vertical section of amachine embodying my invention and having a tub or vat wholly of sheet or plate metal. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the operating parts of the machine upon the plane of the dotted line a: x, 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section upon the I same plane as Fig. 2, showing a machine in which the tub or vat is made wholly of we, and showing a modified construction of stirrers or heaters, the reversely-set bevel-gear sectors and other parts-of the driving mechanism being omitted; and Fig. 4 is a plan and partial section of the machine shown in Fig. 3, upon the plane of the dotted line y 3 Fig.

Similar letters of reference designate corre' spending parts in all the figures.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, A designates the tub or vat, and A the bottom thereof.

In this machine both the cylindric body and the bottom may be made of sheet or plate metal, and corrugated so as to form inward projections, which facilitate *the washing of clothes and may render the machine very efficacious for other purposes. Thetub or vat is shown as supported-upon legs A and beneath the bottom I have shown an atmospheric-gas form braces between the legs A and the heat-- ing device is supplied with gas by means of a pipe, B.

O designates an upright stirrer or heater shaft arranged within the tub and having its bearing in a long sleeve, D. The lower portion, 0, of the stirrer or heater shaft, below the sleeve D, may be of square or polygonal transverse section; and O designates a crossbar having an eye fitted to slide upon the portion 0 of the shaft and locked to turn with the shaft. The cross-bar is provided with downwardly-proj ecting arms or prongs c, which are or may be inclined to the perpendicular, as shown best in Fig. 2. WVhcn thus constructed, these arms or prongs a will always,

one of them, act to lift the clothes or other eontents of the tub, while the other will serve to depress the contents, the arms or prongs performing their functions alternately as the shaft is rotated in one or other direction.

I have represented in the lower portioh of the shaft 0, belowthe sleeve D, a retainingspring, a, which, when the cross-bar G is raised, will exert sufficient friction upon the cross-bar to hold it in its elevated position to facilitate the removal of the contents from the tub. The sleeve D forms an integral part of the eastmetal frame, which comprises downwardly-extending arms D, secured by screws or rivets to the opposite sides of the tub or vat, and provided with handles Z), whereby the machine may be lifted. The frame also comprises integral bearings c for theshaft E, arranged transversely t0 and above the-stirrer- ,shaftG, and,as here shown,has other integral bearings, c, for the driving-shaft E, which is parallel with the shaft E. a Upon the upper end of the shaft 0 is a bevelpinion, gl,and upon the shaft E are reverselyset bevel-gear sectors 01, which engage alternately with the opposite sides of the pinion d, and rotate the shaft 0 alternatelyin opposite directions by the rotation of the shaft E continuously in one direction. made in the form of mutilated gear-wheels having teeth throughout about half their circnmference,as shown in Fig. 2,and are formed Theseetors d are in one shell or casting,which also comprises a pulley-like portion, d", between the reverselyset sectors or mutilated bevel-wheels d. This shell or casting, as here shown, also comprises an internal spur-wheel, d, with which engages a pinion, (1, upon the driving'shaft E. The pulley (1 forms a cross portion rigidly connecting the sectors (2 together independently of the shaft E,on which they are secured, and serving to hold the two sectors in proper relative position circumferentially and independently of the shaft. It is very important that the two gear-sectors (1 should be rigidly connected independently of the shaft, because then their proper relation to each other will always be maintained, and

their properaction upon the pinion (1 depends on the proper relation of the sectors (1 to each other being preserved.

The machine may be driven either directly by a belt passing around the pulley-like portion (1", or it may be driven through the shaft E by a hand-crank, E placed thereon, or by a pulley placed on said shaft and receiving a driving-belt. The tub A may be provided with a cover, A made in two semicircular sections, and having at the center a hole fitting the circumferential groove 0 in the lower end of the sleeve D.

In the machine shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the cylindric body A and the bottom A of the tub or vat are made of wood, and certain of the staves of which the body is composed have downward prolongations A= forming legs on which the machine is supported. As represented, the interior of the tub or vat has secured upon it lagsf, which form a roughened surface for the bottom and cylindric upright wall. In this example of my invention, the stirrers, beaters, or blades consist of arms 0*, projecting radially from the stirrer-shaft C in pairs. The arms of each pair extend in dia' metrically-opposite directions, and each pair of arms 0* may be secured by a set-screw, g, at any desired point of height on the shaft 0. The tub or vat is also, provided with a cock, 7:, whereby water may be withdrawn from it, and the metallic tub or vat in Fig. 1 is'provided with a similar cock, h.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a tub or vat and a stirrer or heater shaft, 0, arranged therein, of a bevel-pinion, d, on said shaft, a second shaft, E, arranged transversely to the shaft 0, two reversely-set bevel-gear sectors, (1, secured on the shaft E and engaging alternately with the pinion d, to drive the stirrer or beater shaft Calternatelyin reverse directions,and a cross portion extending between the sectors (1 and rigidly connecting them independently of the shaft E, whereby the proper relation of the sectors to each other is insured irrespective of the devices which may be employed to secure the sectors to-the shaft E, substantially as herein described.

2. The combination, with a tub or vat and a stirrer or beater shaft arranged therein, of a bevel-pinion on said shaft, a second shaft arranged transversely to the first, reversely-set bevel-gear sectors on the second shaft engaging alternately with the pinion, a spur-gear on the second shaft, and a driving-shaft provided with a pinion gearinginto the said spurgear, substantially as herein described.

3. The combination, with the tub or vat and the stirrer or beater shaft 0, of the pinion d on said shaft, the transverse shaft E, and a metallic shell or casting on the transverse shaft, comprising reversely-set bevelgear scctors d, engaging alternately with the pinion d, and an intermediate pulley portion, 17-, sub stantially as herein described.

4. The combination, with the tub or vat and the stirrer or beater shaft G,'of the pinion d, the transverse shaft E, and a metallic shell or casting on the transverse shaft, comprising reversely-set bevel-gear sectors (1, engaging alternately with the pi'niond, and an internal spur-gear, (Z and adriving-shaft, E,provided with a pinion,d* ,engaging with said spur-gear, substantially as herein described.

5. The combination, with a tub or vat and a stirrer or beater shaft provided with a bevelpinion, of a transverse shaft and bevel-gear sectors set reversely thereon, so as to engage with opposite sides of the pinion alternately, and a frame comprising a central sleeve, D, and arms D, extending outward and downward from the upper part of the sleeve, and the bearings 'c for the transverse shaft, extending upward from the arms D, all being formed in the same integral casting, substantially as herein described.

6. The combination, with a tub or vat, ofa stirrer or beater shaft arranged therein and provided with a bevel-pinion, a transverse V shaft provided with reversely-setgearsectors engaging alternately with the pinion, and a cross-bar on the stirrer or beater shaft having on opposite sides of the shaft downwardly-extending arms or prongs a, which are inclined in reverse directions to the perpendicular, wherebysaid arms or prongs will act alternately to lift and depress the contents of the tub or vat as the stirrer or beater shaft is rotated in reverse directions, substantially as 

